1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to humidifiers and, more particularly, to a flow through humidifier.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide humidifiers for furnaces such as of the forced hot air type. One example of such a humidifier is a flow through humidifier. The flow through humidifier typically includes a housing mounted to a warm air plenum or return air plenum of the furnace and a water evaporation media such as an evaporative pad disposed within the housing. The flow through humidifier also includes a water supply assembly disposed within the housing to supply water to the media. The water supply assembly includes a solenoid-actuated valve having an inlet fluidly connected to a water line and electrically connected to a humidistat for control thereof. The water supply assembly also includes a flow restrictor on the outlet side of the valve and a water tube connected to the flow restrictor. The humidistat controls external power to the solenoid-actuated valve controlling the supply of water from the water line through the flow restrictor and through the water supply tube to the media. The water from the water supply tube flows into a water distribution tray at the top of the media which distributes the water over the media. The water flows over the media and with air passing through the media, facilitating evaporation of the water, thereby increasing the humidity of the air. Unevaporated water is collected in a drain pan at the bottom of the media. A drain tube is connected to the drain pan, thus allowing the unevaporated water to discharge or exit the housing of the humidifier to a local drain.
The main disadvantage of this type of humidifier is that the supply water passes over the media only once and the relatively large amount of unevaporated water is discharged as waste.